> It discriminates against poor people: You're a programmer, you are not poor. Even if you were, the few weeks of time investment it requires is usually offset by the higher salary you can ask for. Think of it as an investment in your future. Or if you are not a programmer, the amount of skills you need to learn to get your first programming job is usually far excess of just learning leetcode
This comment does not acknowledge the experience experience of many people who grew up poor or put themselves into major debt because they didn’t receive financial support or live in economically disadvantaged areas.
I grew up poor and took out massive education loans to pay for my education. I still pay off those debts today. Does that mean I consider myself poor now? No, but my economic disadvantage has made me need to work much harder in other areas and I’ve needed to prioritize many other things over leetcode. I haven’t had the luxury of spending multiple hours a week to get “good” at leetcode
So yes, I’d argue that leetcode is responsible for gatekeeping people out of jobs who don’t have time/money to grind on it.
Leetcode prep is less time and money than getting a degree in anything. Anybody with sufficient interest can find the time to get to a basic competence level in leetcode and system design. Getting real life experience or a college degree has got to be the bigger gate.
> Anybody with sufficient interest can find the time to get to a basic competence level in leetcode and system design.
OK. But, it has nothing to do with interest. It's time (which may already occupied with working long hours or a second job to pay off debt or looking after family). Who has extra time to perform leetcode tasks that have no alignment to day-to-day tasks and expectations. People with the luxury of free-time, thus attracting a certain type of profile.
> Getting real life experience or a college degree has got to be the bigger gate.
You don't just get a job doing leetcode. The experience and/or degree are table-stakes. The OP post is asking folks who likely already have experience or a degree related to the field of software engineering.
Interest in getting a job that requires it, not interst for its own sake. The number of people who cannot find 1-2 hours a week over the course of a year to prepare despite an interest in doing so is vanishingly small. Yes you might struggle to find the time if you have two jobs and two toddlers, but kids grow up and the ROI is clearly there. Leet code sucks. But its a solid and relatively cheap (time and money) investment, and in particular is cheaper than any other of the (not quite as) high paying jobs I can compare it to.
This comment does not acknowledge the experience experience of many people who grew up poor or put themselves into major debt because they didn’t receive financial support or live in economically disadvantaged areas.
I grew up poor and took out massive education loans to pay for my education. I still pay off those debts today. Does that mean I consider myself poor now? No, but my economic disadvantage has made me need to work much harder in other areas and I’ve needed to prioritize many other things over leetcode. I haven’t had the luxury of spending multiple hours a week to get “good” at leetcode
So yes, I’d argue that leetcode is responsible for gatekeeping people out of jobs who don’t have time/money to grind on it.